Sophomores Walter Aragon, Jair Lopez, Daryelis de Leon, Julio Montenegro and Denilson Lemus gather on the Front Lawn while representing Seeds ofHope Sept. 22, 2019. Montenegro founded the organization in 2017. I photo by Stanley Morales planting seeds of Sophomore Julio Montenegro spread the message and love ofJesus in Nicaragua and Guatemala. S ophomore international business major Julio Montenegro grew up volunteering at an orphanage in his home country of icaragua. His mother was a doctor who provided free medical consultations at the Hogar del Nifiorphanage, so he knew many of the children from the time he was 10 years old. In 2017, Montenegro offered English tutoring and helped them with school assignments. "When I came to Harding, I knew that I had the opportunity to improve what I was currently doing," Montenegro said. "That's how the idea of Seeds of Hope started." After coming to Harding, Montenegro brainstormed ways he could continue to help the children in Nicaraguawhile away at school and realized he could use the skills he learned to continue improving what he had already done. After a spring break mission trip to the Dominican Republic, Montenegro and fellow sophomores Walter Aragon, Denilson Lemus, Daryelis de Leon and Jair Lopez assembled to create a project to continue serving the children from Montenegro's home and spread the idea to more countries despite being thousands of miles away. Similar to Montenegro, Aragon had the idea to teach English when he was home in Guatemala but did not have all the resources necessary to do so. "When they told me about this project, I agreed, and so I started to work on the worksheets and everything to teach the children," Aragon said. Seeds of Hope reached both Nicaragua and Guatemala, and they wanted to create curriculum and programs that met the needs of each country. They kept the project running during the 2018-19 school year through various means. One of Montenegro's friends met with the 154 sophomores children while he was gone to keep the program running in Nicaragua, and Aragon continued the work by creating weekly worksheets to send to his students while he was away. "Right now, Seeds of Hope is running in Nicaraguand Guatemala, but I think it would be cool if we could run it in El Salvador one day, as well as other countries in Central America," Lopez said. Moving forward, the Seeds of Hope project intended to expand and reach more children and countries throughout Central America. "But our project was not only to teach them English but was also to teach them about the Bible and Jesus," Aragon said. The team explained that helping children learn English and assisting with schoolwork was a big part of their mission, but the project was primarily focused on discipleship. Many of the children went through difficult times, so Seeds of Hope was an initiative to help them move past similar experiences and show the children they could overcome such adversity, as well as help those around them. "I approached them in teaching English, but that wasn't my goal," Montenegro said. "I used the English to preach to those kids and share time with them, so they could see that they have people that care about them." De Leon said she remembered when Montenegro asked the children to share their hopes and dreams, and she said it was impactful to think about bow Seeds of Hope could be a stepping stone on the path to helping the children shape and achieve their goals. "When you give a kid attention, and you start giving them time, that is like the best thing you can offer them to help them grow," de Leon said. "The mission is to plant a seed in their lives so they can grow." story by Madison Scott
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